Second northern tragedy brings further grief to local family

(Bethel, AK) — A former Heard County resident and her husband died tragically in a house fire early Saturday morning in Bethel, Alaska.

According to a report by KTUU-TV in Anchorage, the Bethel Fire Department arrived at the blaze just after 1 A.M. to find the home on fire.

Charity and Hans Alexie died in an Alaskan house fire early Saturday

They were able to extinguish the flames, however while responders inspected the damage, they discovered two people, 41-year-old Charity Lynn Alexie (maiden name Cammon) and her husband Hans, age 37, did not make it out in time.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but authorities have stated they don’t believe foul play was involved.

Charity Alexie was a former Heard County resident and attended Heard County schools with the Class of 1993 until she was in her late teens.

She was the daughter of local resident Sandra Mironov, the step-daughter of Donald Mirinov, and sister to Jody and Jacob Cammon. Jacob served as the Heard County District 2 commissioner from 2010-2014.

She leaves behind one daughter, 18-year-old Madison Charlie and one son, 23-year-old Alex Cammon, both of Franklin.

After moving to Alaska, Charity earned a Bachelor of Science in nursing from the University of Alaska.

She worked at Alaska Fairbanks as a RN charge nurse and her husband Hans was an airline mechanic.

Charity’s first cousin, April Jennings Hayes of Franklin, describes Charity as a person with a very positive spirit.

“Charity was a beautiful person, with a beautiful soul, ” said Hayes Sunday afternoon. “She would light up the room when she walked in — always laughing and joking with everyone. She loved her family more than life, especially Maddie Jade and Alex. She was so proud of them.”

It is a difficult time for the family, who are still healing from another northern tragedy — a 2014 Canadian avalanche that claimed the lives of Charity’s step-brother Gabriel and his 11-year-old son Oliver.

HeardCitizen.com will post a full obituary when final arrangements are completed.